Use your PS3 for something greater than games and BD-DVD movies!

[Oni]

Use it to fight cancer!

http://www.thelastboss.com/post.phtml?pk=2431

The good people over at Standford University's Folding@Home project are working on a version of the client that will work on your PS3. According to The Last Boss article, it will be available on March 23 to test out.

[OCnewbee]

Wow. This should be nice. Maybe it will boost the sales of the PS3.

[LandShark]

I just can't wait any longer.....!! ;)

[tenchi86]

Was announced along time ago, however it can not run until a feature in Firmware 1.60 is installed on the PS3 which happens to not come out till March 23. (The Eur launch) Anyway I will be sure to give it a try myself.

[FudgeNuggets]

I wonder how well it will run? It's historicaly been pretty awful for PPCs. Hopefully it is a Cell dedicated build and not just a PPC port.

[LandShark]

I wonder how well it will run? It's historicaly been pretty awful for PPCs. Hopefully it is a Cell dedicated build and not just a PPC port.
it is a Cell dedicated client.

[FudgeNuggets]

it is a Cell dedicated client.

The story failed to mention that specifically. If that is indeed the case, I'd LOVE to see Benchmarks of that against the most poweful G5 CPUS and the most powerful Intel and AMD CPUs.

[Neural Net]

The story failed to mention that specifically. If that is indeed the case, I'd LOVE to see Benchmarks of that against the most poweful G5 CPUS and the most powerful Intel and AMD CPUs.

Apparently the PS3 is supposed to be pretty powerful, as while the Cell might not be ideal for games apparently it's great for this kind of stuff.

[tenchi86]

Not sure how correct he is, but a professor at NCSU built himself a small cluster using 8 PS3s and believes that with a mere 10k units ($5 Million) you could have the fastest Super Computer in the world. Even if he is wrong it should point that the Cell is at least decent for these task.
http://www.physorg.com/news92674403.html

[Neural Net]

Not sure how correct he is, but a professor at NCSU built himself a small cluster using 8 PS3s and believes that with a mere 10k units ($5 Million) you could have the fastest Super Computer in the world. Even if he is wrong it should point that the Cell is at least decent for these task.
http://www.physorg.com/news92674403.html

Yeh I heard about that. Apparently the Cell is very powerful for science computations. Wouldn't be suprising considering all the most powerful supercomputers in the world are massively parallel.

[bobthemoo]

Why would you want to fold on your PS3, if you don't mind me asking?

[Neural Net]

Um, why not? It's helping advance medical research for one, isn't that reason enough?

[blueswitch]

I could see the cell being good at set tasks where each SPE can be given instructions and be working full time. Should be interesting to see how it folds.

[tenchi86]

Heres a good article on how this project for the PS3 came to be and what it can do.
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13164

[brakezone]

I'm pretty sure it will fold like crazy.

[e6600]

Why would you want to fold on your PS3, if you don't mind me asking?
because ps3 has no good games...
and you can do it while your sleeping

[FudgeNuggets]

Well I can make a case for NOT folding on the PS3. We don't know if it is going to reduce the longetivity of the unit or not. The PS1 and PS2 weren't very durable, neither is the 360 and I'd hate to prematurely shorten the seemingly short lifespan of these ever increasingly expensive consoles. We know we can run our computers 24/7 for years and not have them wear out (normally).

[iceage]

Put a 10000rpm counter-rotating 40mm fan on the box and you're set.

Or if you're a dedicated folder, crack the box open & replace/mod the HSF with something.

[tenchi86]

Put a 10000rpm counter-rotating 40mm fan on the box and you're set.

Or if you're a dedicated folder, crack the box open & replace/mod the HSF with something.

It does have a built in temperature sensor that will shut down if too hot. Still if you are doing that I would wait a year at least so you don't void the warranty.

[Douken]

Superb news, But many knew this was coming, saw it yesterday on local news

[PYROMANIAC]

with all this dedication to folding, has any major breakthrough been accomplished because of it thus far? not trying to be an ass, just asking.

because ps3 has no good games...
and you can do it while your sleeping

lol

[Quailane]

Well I can make a case for NOT folding on the PS3. We don't know if it is going to reduce the longetivity of the unit or not. The PS1 and PS2 weren't very durable, neither is the 360 and I'd hate to prematurely shorten the seemingly short lifespan of these ever increasingly expensive consoles. We know we can run our computers 24/7 for years and not have them wear out (normally).

Also it is annoying just sitting there on. My brother likes to pause the game and leave it there indefinitely. That's why I don't fold anymore. I like my computer dead.

[jcw122]

I'll be all over it!!!

[darkknight187]

on big reason to fold on the ps3, lets see for the first year you own it it's got a warranty and for that first year if it's going to have any defect issues running folding on it 24/7 for that first year should weed out any real first year issues. correct me if i'm wrong but as far as i know a bulk of the issues sony has ever had with their consoles are disk related and not usually related to any of the graphics hardware or their cpus... i don't know alot on the 360 issues although i do know my friends has an issue with reading 360 disks these days..put the game in it and it'll either load the game or load the screen telling you to put the game into a 360.

[Jon]

Just wanted to give this a little bump. Aside from offering a huge advantage to the science involved, OCForums Team 32 is gearing up for a serious run at the #2 spot. Even part-time PS3 folders would provide a huge boost.

Save lives and drive OCF to #2 while you're at it!

[Shell]

Just wanted to give this a little bump. Aside from offering a huge advantage to the science involved, OCForums Team 32 is gearing up for a serious run at the #2 spot. Even part-time PS3 folders would provide a huge boost.
Save lives and drive OCF to #2 while you're at it!
I'd get a PS3 to fold.. but there's no more 20Gb PS3s, and the 60Gb is over $660CDN(+%14 tax), for that price I might as well get 4 X1900GTs. :(

[FudgeNuggets]

I'd get a PS3 to fold.. but there's no more 20Gb PS3s, and the 60Gb is over $660CDN(+%14 tax), for that price I might as well get 4 X1900GTs. :(


Next time you're close by, go to Buffalo and buy one there. The price will be the same after the exchange rate but you'll save nearly 10% in tax and may be able to find a 20GB. I've not seen any lately though.

[Shell]

Next time you're close by, go to Buffalo and buy one there. The price will be the same after the exchange rate but you'll save nearly 10% in tax and may be able to find a 20GB. I've not seen any lately though.
Didn't Sony completely stop production of the 20Gb because they were losing a fortune off them? $100 less for $20 less in hardware... well... more like ~$35.

Next time I'm in Niagara Falls, if there's a 20Gb for sale in Buffalo or the American Falls, I'll hop the border and grab one.
My passport should help speed up the crossing.

Evil plan to distroy Sony and cure the world of various ailments:
(1) Bug Sony to put the 20Gb back in full swing,
(2) Buy every 20Gb PS3 and use them in folding farms,
(3) Wait,
(4) Cure various diseases, give Sony an honorable demise.

Oh ya, 360 Linux is now working(Although it's highly Alpha stage), if someone makes a native PPC F@H client, we can make use of the 360's 3 cores.
And if the "Xenos" GPU could also be used as a GPGPU, the 360 may end up having just as much, or even more folding power then the PS3.
It better be non-graphical, I don't care for looking at molecules wiggling around all day, although it does make a good screensaver.

[LandShark]

just a friendly reminder:

for those who is interested or folding on their PS3, please remember to put 32 under Team number for Overclockers.com!! :cool: